I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 293 Changes in Chang’an Court

The scenery in Daidi and Guanzhong are quite different.

Often in September, the temperature at night is close to zero, and when you go out early the next morning, there is often a thin layer of white frost on the dead grass.

You must know that in Chang'an, even at the end of September, there are people wandering in the market wearing single clothes. They will say that they are squeezed out and sweat. If they are not so worried about other people's opinions, they will go shirtless and take off their outer clothes. clothes draped over shoulders.

The trees in the mountains and fields of Daichi have yellow leaves, withered leaves, and fallen leaves. The process from beginning to end seems to only take a moment, often so fast that people can't react. It's as if an autumn rain has brought them together with the chirping of cicadas on the trees. All beaten down.

Moreover, to the north of Daidi, it already looks like a savanna. However, most people still stubbornly choose to farm on that unfertile yellow land according to thousands of years of tradition. However, a few people choose to graze according to local conditions, so there are There are vast tracts of cattle and sheep that are absolutely invisible in the southern and Guanzhong areas.

When Chen Luo first came to Daidi, he was quite uncomfortable with the living environment that was very different from Chang'an and Chudi. In addition, Liu Le was not around, so he often wore thin clothes in the early morning and shivered from the cold when he went out, so he hurriedly Go back inside and add a lining.

Now that he has been there for four years, he has gradually become familiar with the land. He knows that when it rains in autumn and becomes cold, it is the right time to add clothes to keep warm, make a fire to keep away the cold, and eat mutton to avoid the cold.

On the contrary, Chang'an is not so clear in his memory. When he recalls it in his mind, it usually has a gray filter.

In the past few years, Chen Luo has not received many letters from Chang'an.

When he first came to Daidi, people from Chang'an would write letters of concern and greetings to him from time to time. Four years later, he thought about it and found that there were only a handful of letters written from Chang'an in the past few months.

The only thing that left an impression was that Zhang Cang complained to himself that some local officials had begun to collude with the powerful, and there were more than one case.

Opening the seal, Chen Luo took out the letter inside.

However, it is not a personal letter, but an official notification document.

"The emperor wants to go on a hunting tour in the north. Do we need to make arrangements for the reception?" Chen Luo muttered silently after reading the entire article.

Putting down the paperwork, he rubbed his chin.

Is this the first time Liu Ying has left Chang'an this year?
I remember that at the beginning of the year, Liu Ying returned to Peixian County and stayed in Peigong for a while. The reason was that she was homesick and wanted to have fun with the villagers. She also exempted Peixian County and neighboring Feng County from taxes for three years, saying that they would be allowed to bathe in the emperor's favor. .

At that time, Liu Le wrote a letter specifically to complain about this matter to himself.

It is not a good thing for the emperor to frequently leave the capital.

But Chen Luo can understand Liu Ying's mentality very well.

There is indeed nothing wrong with the arrangements left by Liu Bang. At the beginning of Liu Ying's succession, all forces did not dare to act rashly and maintained a balance, and there was no problem in the operation of the court.

It's just that no matter how perfect the system is, it still needs people to maintain its operation. The missing "parts" require the arrangement of suitable substitutes.

If Liu Ying learns half of his father's political skills and knows how to play balance, then there will be no problem in maintaining this system for a long time.

But he didn't have that kind of mentality.

In the winter of the 16th year of the Han Dynasty, Wuyang Hou Fan Kuai died of illness in his mansion, leaving the position of Taiwei vacant.

During his more than a year as Taiwei, he often stayed at home due to illness and did not go to court.

However, it is not that important whether he can go to court or not. What is important is that the position of Taiwei must be filled by someone like Fan Kuai.

In the system left by Liu Bang, the hero faction and the relatives faction need to check and balance each other.

Fan Kuai was granted the title of Marquis due to his military exploits and married Lv Zhi's sister. Therefore, his identity will be recognized by both parties. He is one of the three princes and can convince everyone.

After Fan Kuai passed away, there was a lot of debate in the court about who should take over as Taiwei. Unexpectedly, Liu Ying suggested that Lu Chan should take over.

Most of the courtiers unanimously opposed this resolution. Isn't it a joke to let a young boy who has never fought in a few battles serve as the Taiwei and hold the second highest military power in the Han Dynasty?
Although there are precedents like Han Xin, Han Xin is Han Xin, and not everyone can succeed.

During that time, Chen Luo was still traveling between various counties in Daiguo, and he did not know the specific events that happened in the Chang'an court.

By the time he returned to Dai City, everything had settled and what he learned was the final result.

Zhou Bo, the right prime minister, returned to the position of Taiwei, and Cao Shen, the Prime Minister of Xuanqi, returned to Chang'an and assumed the position of right prime minister. Lu Chan, who was nominated as Taiwei, was in charge of the Southern Army of the Imperial Guard, and his cousin Lu Lu was in charge of the Northern Army of the Imperial Guard.

The personnel changes in the Chang'an court were beyond Chen Luo's expectations.

There seems to be nothing wrong with the first few steps, and they are reasonable and compliant transfers. However, the key point can only be seen with the appointment of Lu Chan and Lu Lu.

You must know that the most important garrison in Chang'an City is the Forbidden Army.

Moreover, they are not only responsible for the palace city, but also need to patrol outside the city and even the entire Gyeonggi Province. If necessary, they will even be mobilized for combat. When Liu Bang personally conquered South Vietnam, the main force he led consisted of the Forbidden Army.

The total number of the North and South Forbidden Army is [-], which can be regarded as the most powerful combat force in the entire Guanzhong region.

Let Zhou Bo serve as Taiwei, but let Lu Chan and Lu Lu control the Forbidden Army. Then Zhou Bo is a Taiwei in name, but lacks actual control over the military power of the Forbidden Army. If they really fight against each other, they will definitely not be the opponents of Lu Chan and Lu Lu.

However, in the eyes of the court officials at the time, the hero faction had the upper hand in that struggle. The three princes were Chen Ping, Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, and Zhang Cang.

Except for Zhang Cang, everyone else is the veteran of the Heroic Sect.

However, the advantage of the hero faction only lasted less than a year. Cao Shen, whose body suffered too many hidden injuries in the war at the end of Qin Dynasty, died in the 17th year of the Han Dynasty. From the perspective of hindsight, the beautiful funeral seemed to be a grand ending.

The position of Prime Minister You was taken over by Shen Shiqi, whom Lu Fei was close to.

After that, the situation in the court began to tilt towards the Wai Qi faction. In addition, Lu Fei himself had the power to govern the court, and the voice of the Wai Qi faction gradually became louder.

Originally, the hero faction hoped to endure a little longer, but in the 18th year of the Han Dynasty, Liu Ying and Guan personally handled political affairs, using this juncture to make a comeback.

However, Liu Ying and the crown queen have not been able to obtain the power to handle political affairs personally, and most political affairs are still handled by Lu Pheasant.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Ping "abandoned the darkness and turned to the light". As one of the leaders of the hero faction, he expressed support for Shen Shiqi in the early court.

For the Heroes Sect, the main thing this caused was a psychological blow.

However, Chen Luo, who was in the land of Dai, didn't care whether Chang'an was governed by Lu Fei or whether the court was controlled by the meritorious faction.

Their abilities are not bad, and the policies they implement are all about recuperation.

Therefore, the battle between the two parties mainly revolves around power, rather than differences in the governance philosophies of the two parties.

After Lu Pheasant initially took control of the court, he asked Chen Luo if he was willing to return to Chang'an.However, he declined the invitation mainly for two reasons.

The first is that his reform in Daichi has just been carried out for two years, which is a critical period. Giving up halfway is not his style.

What's more, many policies here require high-level planning and promotion. Without him, would it be up to Liu Ruyi to take charge of the overall situation?
The second is that the situation in Chang'an is too complicated. I am on the outside and there is no need to wade into troubled waters.

The desires of Lu Pheasant and the Lu family were lower than in history. In addition, there were several Liu family princes and kings in the local area. They honestly abided by the agreement of the White Horse Alliance.

It's just that the confrontation between them and the hero faction in the court cannot be eased.

Why go on stage to participate in the disputes and be a performer when you can just be a spectator in Daichi?

Lu Zhi never mentioned the matter again after her first invitation was rejected. Perhaps she was also worried that Chen Luo's return to Chang'an would plunge the court into uncertainty again.

After all, Chen Luo barely had the status of a maternal relative, but strictly speaking, no one really regarded him as a maternal relative.

Even Lu Ze, who has the highest merit among the Lu family, is not as good as him.

When the time comes, if Chen Luo has selfish motives, he can definitely become the leader of the Hero Faction and fight with Lu. Lu is really not necessarily his opponent.

Instead of rekindling the hopes of the Hero Faction, Lu Pheasant felt that it would be a more appropriate choice for Chen Luo to stay in Dai Di for the time being.

With the end of the power struggle in the court, it has been more than a year.

During this period, the government orders in the court were nominally issued by Liu Ying, but in fact, Lu Pheasant arranged them all behind the scenes, giving Liu Ying almost no room to display.

Therefore, Liu Yingming is an emperor on the surface, but he does not have enough authority, but the Han Dynasty pays attention to "filial piety". The people who interfere in political decisions now are not powerful officials, but his mother.

This gave Liu Ying no reason to resist.

In Liu Le's eyes, it was irresponsible for his brother to exempt Peixian and Feng counties from paying taxes for three years just after returning to his hometown. But in Liu Ying's mind, this may be one of the few moments when he feels that he is the current emperor of the Han Dynasty. .

Chang'an is a prosperous capital city in the eyes of the world and the most brilliant pearl in the land of Han Dynasty, but in Liu Ying's heart, it is a prison.

Only when he leaves Chang'an and is far away from Guanzhong will he feel relaxed.

Chen Luo helplessly looked at the document that read "The Emperor intends to visit the north for a hunting tour." Liu Ying had a character problem after all. In other periods in history, it might have been even worse if Lu Pheasant had not usurped power.

After thinking about it, Chen Luo put the document aside for the time being.

Liu Ying was on a hunting tour in the north. It was unlikely that he would come to an area close to the border like Dai State. It was more likely that he would be hunting in Zhao.

When the time comes, I will send someone to Chang'an to inquire about the specific situation. If the other party will not come, there is no need to mobilize all the troops to make preparations, which will really waste people and money.

Chen Luo narrowed his eyes when he saw the next document.

This is not an official document, but comes from the Mohist caravan.

After more than twenty years of recovery and development, the number of Mohist disciples has continued to grow, even more than the peak number during the Warring States Period.

Chen Luo holds a detailed list of Mohist disciples in his hand, which is updated every six months. It was less than two months since the last update, and the number of people in the list reached more than [-].

Mohist disciples mainly gathered in Yangxia to carry out R&D and innovation of agricultural tools, paper improvement and the selection and cultivation of improved crops, accounting for about three-fifths.

The remaining two-fifths were spent traveling around the Han Dynasty, looking for good crops, and at the same time observing the people's sentiments. If there were any unjust cases and corruption, they would be handed over to Chen Luo.

There are also some Mohist disciples who formed or joined caravans in order to better promote the new agricultural tools developed by the Mohist disciples in Yangxia.

Because they found that promoting agricultural tools for free, many people were dubious, and some even insulted Mohist disciples for making blind changes. However, if they promoted agricultural tools through commercial sales activities, the effect would be much better.

For example, the cattle sold by Mohist disciples are cheap, but they need to be matched with a set of agricultural tools developed by them. People who spend money to buy agricultural tools will naturally not leave them idle at home.

While Chen Luo was in Dai Kingdom, many Mohist disciples also followed him to Dai Kingdom, using this place as another center for them. The main development aspect was trading with outside the Great Wall.

The promotion of tea outside the Great Wall was much faster than that in the Central Plains.

Those Xiongnu nobles seemed to particularly like the taste of tea, and used it to relieve their tiredness after a feast.

According to the average replacement price, three small jars of tea can be exchanged for a fine fat sheep in the hands of the Xiongnu nobles.

However, the main item that the Mohist caravan exchanged was a horse, which was more expensive and required five small cans of tea.

In the past two years, the number of horses that the Mohist caravans exchanged for tea from the Huns may have exceeded [-].

Moreover, the existence of the Mohist caravan gave the Mohist family a way to be self-sufficient. Not only could they rely on Yangxia for their existence, but without Chen Luo's tax support from Yangxia, it would have resulted in a shutdown.

It's just that the Mohist caravan still cannot do without Chen Luo's support.

If he had not served as the Prime Minister of Dai, the Mohist caravan would have been charged heavy taxes when crossing the border and would have been harassed by local officials if it wanted to successfully leave the border and trade with the Huns.

Opening the letter sent by the Mohist caravan, there were two things recorded on it.

The Mohist caravan was not the only trading partner of the Huns. The other caravans also had trade relationships with other caravans of the Han Dynasty. However, the other caravans did not have the unique trading item "tea" of the Mohist caravan. They chose to trade with the Huns for bronze wares and a small amount of iron wares.

Regarding this phenomenon, some Mohist disciples wanted to find out from the Huns, but to no avail.

But this is not the main content that the Mohist disciples want to convey in this letter, only a short paragraph is mentioned.

The second thing takes up all the remaining space.

On the way back, the Mohist caravan discovered that a small number of Xiongnu soldiers had sneaked into the Han Dynasty and took advantage of the loopholes in the border defense.

The Han and the Xiongnu are in opposition. Although there has been no major conflict between the two parties in recent years, there have been constant small frictions.

It was just that after Chen Luo became the Prime Minister of Dai, he strengthened border inspections, making it much more difficult for the Huns to invade Dai.

Therefore, the Mohist disciples suspected that the Huns entered the territory of Dai this time to detect the situation in advance to facilitate their subsequent plunder.

(End of this chapter)